Swing-out cabinet shelf hardware assembly



1961 A. R. HOFFMAN SWING-OUT CABINET SHELF HARDWARE ASSEMBLY Filed Jan.25, 1960 INVENTOR United States Patent 3,008,680 SWING-OUT CABINET SHELFHARDWARE ASSEMBLY Alfred R. flail-man, Gig Harbor, Wash, assignor, by

mesne assignments, to Ekco Products Company, Chicago, 111., acorporation of Delaware Filed Jan. 25, 1960, Ser. No. 4,382

4Claims. (Cl. 248-243) This invention relates to hardware assemblies ofthe class employed for mounting swing-out shelves in cabinets andsimilar installations.

As is well known, the remote areas of kitchen and other cabinets oftenare of limited utility because they are so difiicul-t of access. This isparticularly true where the remote areas are located in the corners ofcabinets built at a 90 angle to each other.

A substantial measure of utility may be imparted to such areas byinstalling a revolving shelf of the Lazy- Susan type which may berotated to present the shelf areas. However, where the rotating shelvesall are fixed to a common shaft and turn together, an appreciable amountof useful storage space is wasted because of the necessity of allowingclearance between the shelves as required to load them and unload them.

It is the general object of the present invention to provide a swing-outcabinet shelf hardware assembly for use in the manufacture of shelveswhich are mounted independently on a supporting post and whichaccordingly may be spaced closely together to afford maxi-mum storagedensity.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a hardwareassembly of the indicated class useful in the construction of cabinetshelves which may be installed and removed easily, which are easilyadjustable vertically to accommodate storage items of different height,which are adaptable for use in a diversity of installations, and whichwill carry a substantial load without failure.

The manner in which the foregoing and other objects of the invention areaccomplished will be apparent from the accompanying specification andclaims considered to- 3,008,680 Patented Nov. 14 1961 As seen in FIG. 2,each plate is provided with screws 20 or other means for aflixing it tothe cabinet floor. and

' is formed with an upwardly extending fl-at projection 22.

The latter is designed for insertion in a slot 24 in the base of post14, thus removably mounting the same.

Mounted on post 14 are one or more vertically spaced apart set collars26 adjustably secured to the postlby set screws 28. The collars arelocated in positions designed to afford a spacing between the shelvescalculated to accommodate the items which are to be stored on theshelves.

The shelves, indicated at 30, may be of any selected contour. Theynormally are cut to size by the carpenter at the site of installation.

Each shelf is mounted in a bracket which preferably is formed in twointerchangeable sections 32, 34.

Each bracket section comprises a flat plate 36 suitably reinforced byweb members and of sufficient extent to afiord the desired support. It'is provided with terminal openings 38 and a central opening 40. A skirt42, preferably semi-circular in configuration, extends downwardly fromthe central portion of the bracket which also is formed with an arcuatevertical wall 44 and vertical shoulders 46. Key members 48, 50 projectupwardly from the bracket, preferably adjacent wall 44.

Thus when one of the segments 34 is inverted and placed over the othersegment 32 registry will be obtained between openings 38, 40, keymembers 48, 50, projections gether with the accompanying drawings,wherein like numerals of reference indicate like parts and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a foreshortened sectional view of a swing-out cabinet shelfutilizing the hardware of my invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 22 of FIG. 1 andillustrating the manner of mounting the post supporting the shelfassembly of that figure; and

FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views of the lower and upper segmentsrespectively of a bracket used in the shelf assembly of FIG. 1.

Generally stated, the swing-out cabinet shelf hardware assembly of myinvention comprises in combination a post, post-mounting means formounting the post vertically in a cabinet, a set collar adjustablysecured to the post, and bracket means adapted to mount a shelf. Thebracket means has therein a guideway and a socket communicating witheach other in vertically spaced relation. The guideway is dimensioned toreceive the set collar and the socket to seat the same in bearingengagement. As a result, each shelf may be installed, rotated andremoved independently of other shelves which may be mounted on the samepost.

As indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the presently described hardware assemblyis designed for use in a kitchen or other cabinet, the ceiling of whichis indicated at 10 and the floor of which is shown at 12. Theinstallation normally is made toward the front of the cabinet, or in thecorner of a corner cabinet, so that the shelves may be swung outwardlyfor loading or unloading and then swung inwardly for storage.

42, arcuate walls 44, and shoulders 46. As a consequence, shelf 30 maybe mounted between the two segments and the entire assembly releasa-blyclamped together by means of bolts 52, 54 as is shown in 'FIG. 1.

The final assembly thus will provide a guideway or recess 56, defined byregistering walls 44 and a socket 58, defined by the same walls and alsoby shoulders 46. The guideway and socket communicate with each other invertically spaced relation and are so sized that the bracket may beslipped over set collar 26 and then dropped downwardly along theguidew-ay until the set collar seats in socket 58. When this isaccomplished, the assembly has substantial bearing area afforded by thesocket and also by the downwardly extending skirt 42 so that it willrotate freely and at the same time support a substantial storage loadplaced on shelf 30.

Thus it will be apparent that by the present invention I have provided aswing-out cabinet shelf hardware assembly which may be employed in theconstruction of cabinet shelves useful in areas of restricted access andswingable independently of each other, as required for loading andunloading as well as :for cleaning. Since the shelves operateindependently of each other, they may be spaced closely together toobtain maximum storage density. In addition, the entire assembly isstable, adaptable to various types of installations and easily mountedand demounted.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention herein shown anddescribed is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and thatvarious changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may beresorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention or thescope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A swing-out cabinet shelf hardware assembly comprising in combinationa post, post-mounting means for mounting the post vertically in thecabinet, a set collar,

nicating with each other in vertically spaced relation, the recess beingdimensioned freely to receive the set collar by relative lateralmovement of the bracket means and the qollar and the socket beingdimensioned to confinev and seat, the set collar in bearingrel-ationshig.

2. The swing out cabinet shelf hardware assembly of claim 1, wherein the post mounting means comprises a pair of'plates, means for securing theplates one to the qabinet ceiling and; the other to the cabinet floor,and means rernpvab ly interlocking the plates and the respec tive endsof the post;

3. swing 'out cabinet shelf hardware, assembly of,

q laim 1 whereih the bracket comprises two verticallyspaced; r eleasablyinterlockable segments, one adapted tolbei mountedabpye the shelf'andthe other below the same, and bothadapted to receive the shelf betweenthem, one of the segments having the recess and socket therein, andmeans for interlocking the segments and the shelf whereby to form aunitary assembly for mounting on the post.

4. The swing-out cabinet shelf hardware assembly of claim, 1 wherein:the-bracket is provided? with an integral downwardly extendingsemi-circular skirt providing a bearingsurface-for supportingloads-placed on the-shelf.

ReferenceseGitedr in the: file of 'th'is' patent UNITED- STATES RATEN FS274,087 Danner .Mar. 13,. 1883 613,986 Gadbury Nov.. 8, 1898 1,525,461"Moors Feb. 10,1925 2,933,361 Von der Lancken Apr. 19, 1960

